DETROIT – For some reason, if Thursday's game in Detroit was the only Cowboys game you've caught all season, you'd have a pretty good understanding how this 2025 season is going. And probably how it will end up.
Thursday's game against the Lions is "Cowboys 2025" in an absolute nutshell.
The start was just so-so, but then in the second quarter, it started to fall apart. But just when you think all hope is lost, the Cowboys get on a roll and give you some hope. But in the end, the defense just didn't make the stop when it needed to, and the Cowboys came up short.
CeeDee Lamb had some great moments, but ultimately his night ended in frustration. Dak Prescott put up some great numbers, but he had to absolutely carry the team, and the weight was just too much.
That's Thursday's 44-30 loss to the Lions. That's also probably going to be how we remember the 2025 season because they had no room for error, and they just had too many errors.
Now, everything in life has exceptions, and this Detroit game/2025 season analogy certainly has one: Thursday's game against the Lions is NOT how we will remember the season George Pickens has played. Plain and simple, this wasn't his best game, and maybe not even his best effort, but I've learned over the years that you can't ever really question effort. It's impossible for us to gauge, although I'll say this … something looked off with Pickens. Even Dak said after the game that it wasn't Pickens' best night but vouched that his star receiver would play better.
I'll say this, how we viewed Pickens' game might be entirely different had a 45-yard pass interference penalty not been negated by an offsetting penalty on Jake Ferguson. That was an 11-point game in the second quarter that is probably getting cut down to three or four if that call stands. And that call was made because the Lions simply couldn't cover Pickens on the deep ball. But it didn't count, something that seemed to be a theme for the game. In fact, Pickens was called for two penalties while running routes – another theme of the game.
Guys, I'm not here to make any excuses for the Cowboys. They didn't play well enough to win and that's why they lost by two touchdowns. But since I've got this space, I can say this: That penalty on Jake Ferguson at the end of the game might be one of the worst calls I've ever seen. If anything it was a no-call, but it was the Lions' defender grabbing Ferguson as he tried to cut inside. That was pass interference, but not on Ferguson. The Cowboys get that call, and they probably score a touchdown there and cut the lead to three.
But do they win? Probably not because the Cowboys picked Thursday to have their worst special teams coverage game of the season. They couldn't keep the Lions from starting inside their own 40-yard line for some reason. That, and the defense still couldn't cover the Lions' receivers on crossing routes.
However, I think we all know the real reason the Cowboys lost this game. It's pretty simple. If you're looking at the stat sheet, just keep scrolling down.
- Scroll past the first downs, the Cowboys won that 25-20.
- Scroll past time of possession, the Cowboys had that edge by almost three minutes.
- Keep going past the total yards, the Cowboys had more, 417-408.
- What about third-down percentage? Yeah, the Cowboys were a little better, converting on 40 percent to just 37.5 for the Lions.
- Surely, penalties were the problem? No, actually the Cowboys were called for seven and the Lions were flagged for eight.
Wait, there it is. Turnovers? Yeah, that's the blinking red light that hits you right in the face, way worse than what the Cowboys did on three occasions to get flagged. Yes, the 3-0 turnover deficit will get you beat every time, and Thursday was no exception.
What I love about Dak is that he's never going to throw his guys under the bus. He knows both of his interceptions were plays you see on a volleyball court with the guys basically setting the ball up in the air for the pick. But he doesn't say that. Instead, he reiterates how it doesn't matter who's to blame, that the team ultimately turned the ball over.
And let's not let the defense off the hook. They were exposed in the secondary and really got little pressure on the quarterback. This wasn't the defensive performance we've seen the last three weeks, but then again, they haven't seen this kind of speed from any other team before the Lions turned it into a track meet. The problem was, the Cowboys were holding a shot put, and the Lions had the baton for a relay race. Guess who wins that?
One last thing about this game, and it's not really about Thursday night but the days leading up to it. Man, were we all fooled about what the Lions had going on with injuries? To be honest, we were surprised about the Cowboys, too.
Back on Monday or Tuesday, the word out of Detroit was that Amon-Ra St. Brown could barely walk and would probably not play. It also didn't sound like any of their starting offensive linemen would play. Turns out St. Brown was just fine and none of the linemen were held out of the game.
On the flip side, Trevon Diggs told us Monday he was ready to play, but the Cowboys didn't agree. Jadeveon Clowney ended up missing the game as well, as did Tyler Guyton, who was missed as both starting tackles had issues blocking the Lions up front.
Back to Diggs for a moment. I will admit I have no clue what is happening with this situation. Only that it's one of the oddest scenarios we've seen in a while. The only thing I know is this: A healthy Trevon Diggs probably helps the Cowboys win this game. He would've eliminated at least some of these crossing routes that doomed the defense all night. Again, let me be clear when I say a "healthy" Diggs helps them. I don't know if he is, but he felt like he could play. Then again, players will always say that. I'm sure CeeDee thought he was good to return to action Thursday, but the medical team stepped in.
All in all, it was a frustrating night. The Cowboys had chances to have a different outcome but just weren't good enough in the end.
Again, that's what we saw in Detroit. And it's pretty much what we've seen all year.
I'm not calling this season over by any means. There are four games left, and the NFL could have been titled "Stranger Things" long before any other TV show was created.
But we all know how important winning this game was. Turns out it was just as important for the Lions, who were just a little bit better. Especially in the one category that counts the most.
